DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — New data show Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds raised more money last year than all her gubernatorial challengers.

Details about the totals, required by Friday, show the Republican governor collected more than $3.7 million in 2017. She starts the new year with about $4.1 million available.

Fred Hubbell, a businessman seeking the Democratic nomination alongside six others, raised over $3 million in the same period and has $1.2 million cash-on-hand. Cathy Glasson, a union organizer in the Democratic race, raised more than $1.3 million and has more than $729,000 available.

Nate Boulton, a Democratic state senator seeking the party nomination, collected over $1 million and has a little over $481,000 cash-on-hand.

Ron Corbett, a former Cedar Rapids mayor challenging Reynolds in the Republican primary, raised more than $844,000 and has $578,000 available.

A family homeless shelter in southwest Iowa is starting a Girl Scout troop next month for young ladies who stay in the facility. Jaymes Sime, executive director of the Micah House in Council Bluffs, says he read about a Girl Scout troop in New York City that was expanding into several homeless shelters and thought it was a great idea.

Sime says, “I took to Facebook and tagged Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa and basically said, ‘Our doors are open and we love cookies, so if you want to start a troop, give us a call,’ and they did.” Fifty-five percent of the shelter’s occupants are children. Micah House plans to host Girl Scout meetings once a week. The average stay for a family at the shelter is one month and Sime hopes girls who leave the shelter can stay involved or join another troop.

“We will open that up for girls as they transition out into the community but we will also hope to provide them information about troops in the community,” Sime says. “If it’s something they choose to continue with long-term in the community, we’ll say, ‘Great, fantastic,’ and if they want to come back to Micah House, we’ll say the same thing, ‘Great, fantastic, come back.'” The Micah House is one of the few homeless shelters in the country to host a troop. Sime is very optimistic it will be a positive influence for the girls.

“If we all trace back through our childhoods and even our adulthoods, yeah, we have positive friends and family but sometimes, it’s those individuals that are outside those circles that maybe have the greatest impact on our lives,” Sime says. “If we can provide those avenues — it’s tremendous for our volunteers as well.” Starting February 5th, girls staying at the shelter will be able to join the troop. They’ll learn a host of skills, have a chance to earn badges and sell those famous Girl Scout cookies to raise funds.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Karla James in Omaha)

Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, late Friday night, identified a man who was involved in an eastern Iowa incident Wednesday night, that escalated into shots being fired by the subject and law enforcement. 29-year old Jihad Merrick, of Minneapolis, MN., died as a result.

On January 17th, 2018, at around 8:31 p.m., the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 report of a subject — later identified as Merrick – with a gun pointed at his head in a vehicle at Love’s Truck Stop in Floyd, Iowa. Prior to officers’ arrival, Merrick fled the area southbound on Highway 218.

At 8:49 p.m., a Nashua police officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound on Highway 218 at 104 mph. The officer stopped the vehicle and observed the driver (Merrick) get out pointing a handgun at his head. Officers from the Bremer County Sheriff’s Office, the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office, Nashua PD, and the Iowa State Patrol responded and negotiated with the Merrick for approximately 40 minutes before the driver fired a shot from inside the vehicle.

Officers approached the vehicle to find Merrick unharmed. Merrick resisted officer’s attempts to take him into custody and drove the vehicle forward striking an officer. Two officers fired and struck Merrick, who was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is continuing to investigate the incident.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 35-year-old Samuel Jacob Whitaker of Red Oak in the 400 block of East Market Street in Red Oak on Friday night. At 9:07pm officers arrested Whitaker for being a Fugitive from Justice on a valid arrest warrant out of the State of Missouri for Parole Violation. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond awaiting extradition by Missouri Authorities. Officers with the Red Oak Police Department assisted in the arrest.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A private economic development group in Iowa is refusing to release details about its failed bid to get Des Moines selected as Amazon’s second headquarters.

Greater Des Moines Partnership declined Friday to provide additional information about its efforts to attract the company. Partnership spokesman Sam Hoyle says conversations between the group and Amazon will remain private.

The Associated Press sought records from the Greater Des Moines Partnership in November about the group’s pitch to Amazon. The partnership said it wasn’t subject to Iowa’s public records laws. AP contacted the group again after Amazon rejected Des Moines.

Amazon recently narrowed its list to 20 prospective sites for the $5 billion project that could employ up to 50,000 people. More than 200 municipalities failed to make the cut.

The Cass County Republican Central Committee has set the date and time of the Republican precinct caucuses, the meeting location of each precinct caucus, and the order of business to be conducted. The 2018 Cass County Republican Precinct Caucuses will be held on Monday, February 5, at 7:00 p.m., at the following locations, for each precinct:

The precinct caucuses will perform the following functions:

1. Elect two (2) persons, Republican residents of the precinct, to serve on the County Central Committee.
2. Elect delegates and alternate delegates to the Cass County Republican Convention held on Saturday, March 10, 2018, at 9 a.m. The number of delegates to be elected at each caucus is listed above.
3. Propose and vote on platform planks to send on to County Convention. Please email the Chairman (dlwollaw@metc.net) or call (243-5406) if you would like the County Platform in advance of the Caucus date. 

If you wish to attend and participate in the 2018 Republican party caucuses, then you must be registered to vote as a Republican.  You may register as a Republican at your respective caucus location at the date and time of the caucus, but it is preferable for you to register ahead of time, which can be done at the Cass County Auditor’s Office.  Voter registration forms will be available to register or update your information.

A collision between a car and a semi tractor-trailer this morning (Friday morning) in Dallas County, left one person dead, another injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2015 Lexus GS350 driven by 49-year old Chung C. Lo, of West Des Moines, and a 2006 Kenworth semi driven by 57-year old Douglas Harrison, of Panora, collided head-on as they were traveling on D Avenue, south of Dawson.

The Lexus was traveling north, and the semi was heading southbound, when they collided just north of 150th Street at around 8:50-a.m. Both vehicles came to rest in the east ditch following the crash. Douglas Harrison died at the scene. Chung Lo was transported by Mercy One helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.

Both drivers were wearing their seat belts. The accident remains under investigation.

A semi tractor-trailer was involved in an accident Thursday afternoon in Page County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 74-year old William Joseph Davis, of Prescott, was driving a 2001 Kenworth hauling Ag lime in a walking floor trailer, when the rig slid at the intersection of Highway 48 and E Avenue, causing the tractor and trailer to enter the west ditch, where the trailer spilled the load of soil additive onto a field and into the ditch. Davis was not injured during the accident.

Officials say the incident occurred at around 12:38-p.m. northeast of Essex as Davis was making a turn from Highway 48 onto E Avenue. The tractor / trailer combination was owned by Giza Contracting of Creston. The vehicle sustained an estimated $33,000 damage.

No citations were issued due to the road conditions of the melting snow / ice causing the roadway to become water covered ice.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been scheduled for a Dubuque woman accused of letting her seven children live amid what police say was garbage, rotted food and feces on their home’s floor. Court records say 34-year-old Tiesha Martin pleaded not guilty Tuesday to seven counts of child endangerment. Her trial is set to begin March 19. Thirty-three-year-old Jermaine Watson, who police say is the father of the youngest child, also has pleaded not guilty. Court records don’t yet show a trial date for him.

The records say police and a social worker checking on the children at Martin’s residence Jan. 2 found the squalid conditions and say the children were sharing just one bedroom and bed. Martin has said officers lied about the conditions.